Social Collision Case Study

This perspective holds the view that the causes of homelessness lies outside of an individual’s control, and are often the result of a failure of public institutions. Structural causes are often those that affect the opportunities and the social environments for individuals, and as a result leads to a critical shortage of affordable housing, a lack of adequate income, and even discrimination (Gaetz, S., Donaldson, J., Richter, T., & Gulliver, T. 2013). For many, the lack of affordable housing - which is arguably the main contributor to immigrant homelessness in Toronto - may materialize from interwoven forms of discrimination and oppression based on an individual’s race, gender, social class, and even religion. Due to the low average household incomes of immigrants, the demand for affordable housing is further heightened. A study done in Toronto comparing homelessness and housing issues amongst women, revealed that compared to Canadian-born women, non-status migrant women had the most unstable pre-shelter housing, and stayed in shelters much longer compared to the other groups that were interviewed (Paradis, E., Novac, S., Sarty, M., & Hulchanski, J. D. 2010). This study supports the perspective that immigrant homelessness is the result of the failure of public institutions who are responsible for the policies which govern the

The term “Gentrification” was coined by British sociologist Ruth Glass in 1964 to describe the influx of the middle class displacing lower class worker residents in urban neighbourhoods; her example was London, and its working class who resided in the London Borough of Islington. The term was published in Ruth Glass’ book ‘London: aspects of change’ she stated that ‘One by one, many of the working class neighbourhoods of London have been invaded by the middle-classes—upper and lower.’ she also claimed that ‘Once this process of 'gentrification ' starts in a district it goes on rapidly, until all or most of the original working-class occupiers are displaced and the whole social character of the district is changed.’ Gentrification is a multifaceted phenomenon which has been defined differently over the years, there is no concrete definition. Before we look at whether Gentrification is actually damaging the lower class society, we must first focus on the causes of Gentrification and then we may proceed to look at its effects.

This essay will attempt to show evidence that supports the question ‘Does residential segregation shape the social life of cities and people’s sense of who they are’ by using different types of evidence, such as qualitative, which comes from interviews, focus groups, or even pictures and other artistic endeavours like murals. Whilst quantitative is obtained from statistics, surveys and records. Evidence will be looked at by what has appeared over time, looking at the growth of Manchester during 1800’s, with migration of people from the country side, to the city to take up jobs of an industrial nature and how segregation kept the wealthy and workers apart and the inequalities of conditions they lived in. Then at more recent evidence showing a case study of Belfast and the history of a single street Portland Road in London and how segregation can create connections as well as disconnections in people’s lives and how this shapes peoples sense of who they are.

The loss of public housing and the expanse of the wealth gap throughout the state of Rhode Island has been a rising issue between the critics and supporters of gentrification, in both urban areas such as Providence and wealthy areas such as the island of Newport, among other examples. With the cities under a monopoly headed by the wealth of each neighborhood, one is left to wonder how such a system is fair to all groups. Relatively speaking, it isn’t, and the only ones who benefit from such a system are white-skinned. With the deterioration of the economic status of Rhode Island, and especially in the city of Providence, more and more educated Caucasians are leaving to seek a more fertile economic environment.

Toronto holds onto it 's shameful title: Child poverty capital of Canada, article written by Laurie Monsebraanten, social justice reporter was published on October 13th,2015. According to the article in 2011, $16,456 Measures for the low income of a single person and for a two parent family with two children under the age of 16 the measures of low income was $39,912. This article talks about Toronto having the highest percentage of poverty within the youth community followed by Montreal that is 25%, Winnipeg that is 24%, and Hamilton with 22% of children under 18 years of age growing up in poverty. According to the Revenue Canada tax filer data 140 neighborhoods in Canada have child poverty rates above 40%. The highest concentrations of child poverty in Toronto are in the city 's north-west and five are downtown, including Regent Park which has the highest rate at 63%. Two years ago, Sureya Ibrahim; Community engagement worker created a sewing and catering collectives program for local women in Regent Park to help women use the skills to earn money. Ibrahim has participated in a member of the hall meetings on the issue of anti-poverty efforts. She seeks more training for the youth to get jobs but it 's also challenging because their online access is limited or not assessable at all. This article also points out that the poverty rate for working adults is 24% while just 10% of Toronto seniors live in poverty, children disabilities, Single parent, indigenous, and not white

Immigrants today now have the privilege of entering and residing in Canada but along with this privilege, there are also barriers that impede their integration and deprive them of equal opportunity in the society. The undervaluing of foreign education and credentials has emerged over the years as a huge obstacle faced by recent immigrants who seek employment in the areas that they have been trained, and worked in for decades in their respective home countries. For years, newcomers in Canada have been denied inclusion into the Canadian labour market simply because of policies that were

The Ideology of Meritocracy in Canada Inequalities exist all around the world in terms of wealth, workforce and social class. Social inequality plays a vital role in socioeconomically dividing the community into ranks of wealth, income, race and gender. These disparities have become the reason as to why there are income and power issues between men and women. Canada has exceedingly proved itself to be a nation built on multiculturalism, but inequalities in workforce and racial differentiation has been a defining feature from the beginning. While Canada strides on being identified as a diverse nation, social stratification is expressed along the lines of race and inequalities in workforce and in this paper, I will address how the ideology of

Demitress Ewers Mr. Vandyke English 103 04 February 2016 “Gentrification: Affecting the Poor” Imagine if you have built a life in a community for generations and big project developers push you out of the community. In today’s society, this would be labeled gentrification. Gentrification as a universal definition, pertains to the process of renewal and rebuilding, accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.

Many families have been replaced in order to create a more refined neighborhood suitable to the tastes of the middle class. Benjamin Grant brings forward the idea of the positive effects of change and Barbara Eldredge presents insight to the negative effects of gentrification. Gentrification - “the arrival of wealthier people in an existing urban district, a related increase in rents and property values, and changes in the district’s character and culture” became a common shift in the early 1960’s (Grant). The definition of gentrification has gone through

Academic research provides us with valuable information on the topic of racism, housing and discrimination across Canada. The impact that immigration has on housing markets makes it one of the key drivers of the housing demand (Teixeira 174). Most surface level studies suggest that Black and Indigenous peoples suffer the most from discriminations when seeking housing across Canada (Dion 532). Housing discrimination is largely due to conflict theory where access to power is unequal across races and ethnicities. We are able to look deeper into this by accessing data and shared stories of racialized people. The data for such research is obtained from Statistics Canada, interviews and conducted studies such as the one held in the 1990s by the

Despite advancements in gender equality, many jobs still exhibit unequal pay. According to this study, there was a drastic increase of Canadian single-parent mothers who were poor in 2006 compared to single-parent fathers (Duffy 609). Women often resort to alternate methods of income, such as welfare payments, which welfare policies have done little to help women’s situations. Along with welfare are stereotypes that perceive mothers on welfare to be irresponsible. In this case, women who can’t afford the required necessities to live and support themselves and their dependent children leads to women becoming homeless. The increase of homeless women across Canada is a growing concern due to domestic abuse, various unaddressed health issues, and difficulty in maintaining or attaining equitable jobs. Difficulty in maintaining or attaining equitable jobs in the workforce results in homeless women resorting to alternate methods to make a fair

In a neo-liberal economy of Canada, classes are major social forces that are the product of social structural conditions and that have important consequences for political, culture, and economics, among many other things. According to Immigration Watch Canada 684 immigrants per day come to Canada. Migration addresses the economic and labor need while produces new modes of inequality by creating labor conditions that leave certain categories of workers (for instance minorities) vulnerable. In fact, under conditions of capitalist competition and mass of migration not every one can easily get employed even if he/she has the qualifications required for that occupation. In this situation, ethnicity can become an intermediate association, hold people

A few years ago, Vancouver’s first social housing project, Little Mountain, was bulldozed for a social mixing neighbourhood, in which geared towards those with higher incomes than the site’s original residents. This event was foreshadowed by the dramatic changes that happened early on in the 80s when the city began transforming itself into a global city by taking in wealthy Asian immigrants and their capital, in which were dedicated to Vancouver’s real estate market. Like many cities across North America, Vancouver saw a reconfiguration of its downtown and urban spaces. As a result, Little Mountain being bulldozed for redevelopment was an example of housing being used as commodities that started in the late twentieth century. The shift from social liberalism to neoliberalism in the 80s meant housing shifted from

In a book ‘The Uses of Sidewalks: Safety’, by Jane Jacobs, she abstract that ‘her basic notions of what makes a neighbourhood a community and what makes a city livable’ . She stated that ‘Great Cities are not like towns, only larger. They are not like suburbs, only denser’ . In her perspective of view, the great cities are differ from towns and suburbs in basic ways, they are full of stranger. Strangers are not only common in a public assembly, it even more common

In the article, “Gender, Class and Urban Space: Public and Private Space in Contemporary Urban Landscapes” Liz Bondi, puts forth her perspectives about the possible interconnections between gender dichotomy ,urban public /private space or city/suburb dichotomies and how separable or intertwined they are with each other. She attempts to further provide evidence that ‘the ideal of separate spheres’ (Bondi, Pg.162.) continues to affect our lives .She states that gentrification and class is intertwined in this dynamic interaction between gender and space. Bondi identifies these ‘dichotomies’ as duos, be it city/suburb, public /private or male/ female. She points out to the associations between masculinity -public space - city and femininity - private space - suburbs and that these interconnections are look upon as ‘ideologies rather than reality’ (Bondi 2013). The conclusions Bondi presented are based on the empirical evidence she collected which seem to lack abstractness, i.e they are specific to certain location at a certain time. But the interpretations and the data collected reflect the complex character of the urban realm, gender and the interplay between the two. They exhibit characters of being separate as well as being interwoven, distinct, ‘disentangled and a dismantled’ as well as overlapping each other. Although Bondi seems to acknowledge this complexity; she overlooks its importance in her selection of the research site and sample size.